Glenn Beck Calls for Remembering the 'Story' of American History — and the Right Kind of Revolution — to Restore the United States

To restore the United States, Glenn Beck called for remembering the story of the country's history, asserting more unites Americans than divides them.

Glenn Beck speaks at the Values Voter Summit. (Image source: YouTube)

“We don't see the word 'story' in the word 'history,'" Beck said Saturday at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. "We get bogged down and even our schools get bogged down in the names and the dates and the memorization. History is just a great story, and in history we will find every answer that we need. This is my copy of the greatest story. This is my New Testament.”

Beck also pressed the point to the conservative crowd not to get swept up in the hostile debates of the day. Then he surprised the crowd.

“Has anyone said what a blessing Barack Obama is to us?” Beck said to laughter. “I will tell you, I'm a better man. I know more about American history since he's been president. While I wish it wouldn't have happened, and I'm not rooting for someone else who was his secretary of state — 'I don't think I need to be that much better, Lord. I'm stronger.'”

[sharequote align="center"]"Should we follow a guy who is dedicating his book to Lucifer?”[/sharequote]

Beck compared two famous books as a framework for a revolution – Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and the New Testament of the Bible.

Alinsky was a Chicago radical community organizer who trained progressives to organize, and he was a mentor to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while President Obama studied him. Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" became a model for many liberals.

“I will tell you, for many people in America, this is their scripture,” Beck said, holding up a copy of "Rules for Radicals."

Beck then made reference to the figure who holds a prominent spot in Alinsky's book.

“Hey, what do you think? Should we follow a guy who is dedicating his book to Lucifer?” Beck said in a mocking voice. “No.”

But he warned conservatives not to follow the wrong path in advocating for what is right as he pointed out the content of the New Testament.

“Why did Judas sell out Jesus?" Beck asked. "I'm convinced he sold out Jesus because (Judas) wanted revolution — everybody wanted revolution."

On the contrary, Beck said Jesus wanted a revolution of peace, love and harmony.

"How many of us would sit at a table now and say, 'I want a revolution of love'?" Beck asked. "And how many of us would say 'I want this to stop'? Which spirit is leading you?”

Glenn Beck speaks Saturday at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Mike Opelka, TheBlaze)

But peace doesn't mean appeasing evil, either, as Beck invoked former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin and his unwise efforts to appease Germany's Adolf Hitler before World War II.

“You can't appease the world. You have to – with love – explain what the facts are and occasionally turn a table over,” Beck said, referencing the Gospel account of Jesus clearing the temple and rebuking the moneychangers.

On that note a member of the audience shouted, “Cool!”

But Beck cautioned, “That's not where to start.”

One model for where to start is the Declaration of Independence, Beck said, pointing out that the Founding Fathers didn't begin the Declaration talking about usurping the King.

“We would have never won the American Revolution had we started that and taken the middle section and put it at the top, and that's what we're doing,” Beck said. “I'm tired of being against things. I am for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Too many of us are starting with the usurpations. Have you seen what the king has done? Let me tell you what the king has done. The king is quartering people in houses. The king is taxing us too much. That's not the Declaration of Independence. That's in there, but that's not the revolution we advanced.”

Beck admitted to being “mad as hell” about what's happening to the country.

“We want peace. We want harmony. Let's be for something,” Beck said. "Let's start telling the story and setting things right for our children.”

During the speech, he pulled out a map of the lunar landing.

“The world is being redesigned,” Beck said. Then he pointed to the Bible: “We don't have a map. We only have a really good compass.”

This story has been updated.